Should a tutor be hired to help a first grader learn to read?

A:

Quick Answer

According to Educational Research Newsletters & Webinars, tutoring can be beneficial to first graders who have trouble learning to read, especially if the tutoring is phonics-based; therefore, interested parents can find tutoring at the school or choose to hire a private tutor. In ERNWeb's study, students who received supplementary tutoring from paraprofessionals performed better in reading than students who received no tutoring.

Some areas first graders may be tutored in include fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension and phonemic awareness. Fluency involves reading accurately aloud. Tutoring students in vocabulary deals with teaching them how words are used, what the words mean and which words are similar or opposite. Reading comprehension involves understanding the main ideas of what is read, while phonemic awareness deals with using sounds to recognize words.